Site Feeds

Search the site

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Nick Grimshaw, who is turning out to be a witty, inclusive breakfast show host on Radio 1, was expounding his personal theory of music this morning. The best way to have a hit single, he explained, is to repeat the title as many times as you can in the body of the song.

I can think of a few huge exceptions - Bohmeian Rhapsody and Unchained Melody, for example - but it chimes with something Benny Anderson of Abba once said: "The title of the song should always be the first line of the chorus". True enough, it applies to all but four of the tracks on Abba Gold.

Grimshaw illustrated his theory by playing a supercut of Rihanna's new single, Diamonds, in which she repeats the title 32 times. That's 30" of the song's entire duration. I've put together my own version here:

By contrast, Bruno Mars has just released his comeback single Locked Out Of Heaven, a spiky pop tune with more than a little nod to The Police. The title crops up a paltry six times. He is simply not trying hard enough.

Has he doomed himself to lower sales that Rihanna? Only time will tell...

Still, the song's not bad - although the wishy-washy chorus doesn't quite gel with the kinetic energy of the verses. It's from Bruno's second album, Unorthodox Jukebox (love that title), which is out next month. The full track premiere is below.